Six months on, Rohingya in Thailand struggle to keep hope afloat

A UNHCR staff monitors the situation of Rohingya men in Thailand's Ayutthaya immigration detention centre.

AYUTTHAYA, Thailand, August 2 (UNHCR) – Every year, millions of tourists flock to Thailand for the sun, sea and shopping. But 17-year-old Saifullah* cries every time he recalls how he got here.

"I still cry when I remember the difficulties on the boat," said the young Rohingya about his 16-day ordeal on the high seas with 178 other men in January. "We were 10 days without food, four days without water. The engine broke down. I thought I might never see land again."

What drives a teenager to leave home and risk his life on an overcrowded boat for an uncertain future in an unknown destination? "I thought, Life is hell in [Myanmar's] Rakhine state, why don't I take a chance somewhere else?" reasoned Saifullah.

Others on the boat share his views. Kamal,* 22, lost his younger brother in last year's inter-communal violence in Sittwe, the capital of Rakhine state. The boy was attacked with a big knife and died shortly after. Kamal and another brother ran and hid in the forest before they made their decision.

"Young men like us cannot stay in Rakhine state because the police can arrest us any time. We cannot go out to work freely," said Kamal, who used to do daily wage labour within the village. "I thought since we are dying there, we might as well go where there is peace."

Together with others in hiding, they rented a boat and paid 15,000 kyat (about US$15) – everything they had – for the long and arduous journey.

"Sometimes boats would pass and give us rice, chillis or fish that we cooked on the engine," recalled Kamal. "Most of the time, we starved. When we were hungry we would lie down. Sometimes we drank seawater. Many people vomited but no one died. Then the engine failed. We drifted until four small boats pulled us to the coast."

The men were too sick and exhausted to know where they were. Some lay on the ground and were helped by Thai villagers who gave them food and urgent medical care. "I was very weak because I couldn't eat properly," said 17-year-old Zaeed.* "In Thailand they tested my blood and gave me fluids and medicine."

The group of 179 was detained by the Thai authorities and taken to an immigration detention centre (IDC) in Kanchanaburi province, western Thailand. To ease congestion, 16 of them were transferred to the IDC in Ayutthaya in central Thailand after a month.

Kamal appreciates the extra space in Ayutthaya and the fact that the men can take turns leaving the cell to exercise or to help with cleaning the centre. The local Muslim community and college students bring supplementary food on a regular basis. One IDC worker's mother brings them fruit juice.

"The staff give us everything we ask for. They say if we are happy, they are happy," said Kamal. "But I'm worried about my younger brother who is still in Kanchanaburi IDC. I don't know how he is doing."

While the men are thankful for the understanding shown by IDC staff and the local community, they are increasingly stressed by the lack of news about the families they left behind and the prospect of prolonged detention. They spend their days praying, reciting the Koran, crying and trying to sleep, though no one has slept much in the last six months.

"I cannot think anything about my future," said Saifullah. "I don't know how long we will be here. If one day we are released, we can work and make a living. I can't go back to Myanmar until there is peace."

Kamal agrees. "I won't go back to Myanmar now. But if there is peace and free movement, of course I'll go to my homeland," he said. "We want only one thing – a place where we can move freely, work and survive. We're not asking for much."

Kamal, Saifullah and Zaeed are among some 2,000 Rohingya men, women and children who have been granted temporary protection in Thailand and are staying in immigration detention centres and shelters for women and children.

UNHCR has appealed to the Thai authorities to move them to a location that allows for family reunification and greater freedom of movement until longer-term solutions can be found.

The situation in Myanmar's Rakhine state remains tense and not conducive for return. More than a year after the first wave of communal violence broke out, some 140,000 people remain internally displaced, the large majority of them Rohingya.

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Desperation on the Andaman Sea

For days, they were an undertow, an unseen tide of people adrift in the Andaman Sea. UNHCR and its partners had warned that thousands of Rohingya and Bangladeshis were held captive at sea, then abandoned as their crew fled government crackdowns on smuggling and trafficking networks.

Then a green boat surfaced on TV, packed with emaciated men, crying women and sick children, all dehydrated, hungry and desperate. It gave a face to the problem, then vanished overnight. After five days drifting between the coasts of Thailand and Malaysia, some 400 people on board were finally rescued by Indonesian fishermen in the early hours of May 20.

They are among more than 3,000 lucky ones who have been able to come ashore since May 10 in Indonesia, Malaysia and Thailand, where UNHCR is helping to assess their needs. Thousands more could still be stranded at sea. In a welcome statement on May 20, the Foreign Ministers of Indonesia and Malaysia agreed to bring these vulnerable people to shore - a move that will hopefully end the long nightmare at sea.

Desperation on the Andaman Sea

Angelina Jolie revisits Myanmar refugees on World Refugee Day

UNHCR's Special Envoy Angelina Jolie spent this year's World Refugee Day with Karenni refugees from Myanmar. Some have been in exile in Thailand for 30 years, making this one of the longest-running refugee situations in the world.

On her fourth visit to the refugee camps in Thailand, Jolie met Baw Meh's family, three generations of refugees who have lived in Ban Mai Nai Soi camp since 1996.

The family told Jolie they fled Myanmar's Kayah state thinking they would return home shortly. Eighteen years later, they are still here. Baw Meh, 75, lost her husband last year. He died before he could fulfill his dream of returning home. Some of their family members have been resettled to third countries. Others have chosen to stay. Baw Meh has refused to go, preferring to stay close to her village.

Like many refugees along the border, her family is watching the reform process in Myanmar closely and mulling the prospect of eventual return. "After 30 years in exile, the best solution we can give these refugees is the right and power to choose their own way forward," said Jolie. "This is our chance to get it right, to break the vicious cycle of conflict and displacement once and for all."

Angelina Jolie revisits Myanmar refugees on World Refugee Day

Myanmar IDPs pick up the pieces in Rakhine state

A humanitarian crisis is unfolding across Myanmar's Rakhine state, where some 115,000 people are desperately in need of aid after being displaced during two waves of inter-communal violence in June and October 2012. The displaced, most of them ethnic Rohingya, have sought shelter in temporary relief camps and others remain scattered across the state, living under tight security in their destroyed villages. Conditions are harsh: the camps are overcrowded and some lack even the most basic of sanitation facilities while many of the villages are totally destroyed and running low on water. In one village, more than 32 families were living cheek-by-jowl in just two large tents. The children have no access to education and the newborn and elderly are in a very vulnerable position due to a lack of medical facilities. UNHCR is distributing relief supplies and working with the authorities and partners to improve camp conditions, but international assistance is required.

Myanmar IDPs pick up the pieces in Rakhine state

There are more refugees and displaced people now than at any time since the Second World War

To help them, to know who they are, to give them support now and in the future UNHCR must use the most modern tools available. UNHCR plans to capture refugees' biometrics in up to 10 countries this year, and in all its operations by 2018.

Thailand: Nader, a saxophonist from Syria - World Refugee Day 2015

Displaced women sew up a future in Kachin camp

Conflict in Myanmar's Kachin state has displaced tens of thousands. In the town of Laiza, UNHCR is helping women in Hpun Lum Yang camp to learn tailoring skills as part of a pilot project to foster cohesion among IDP women in the camp and help them find solutions for the practical problems they and their community face.